Dr Paul Allen

The Temptation of Christ, 1854 (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) “For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin.” HEBREWS 4:15 Jesus Christ provides us with the perfect example of how to defeat temptation . Learning how to successfully resist temptation is vitally important, for we sin only when we yield to temptation. Christians throughout history have recognized the importance of resisting temptation. One early believer wrote, “Fly from all occasions of temptation, and if still tempted, fly further still. If there is no escape possible, then have done with running and show a bold face and take the two–edged sword of the Spirit.” The desire to escape temptation has led many in the history of the church to attempt heroic but ultimately futile feats of ascetic self–denial. So desperate did one monk become that he threw himself into a thicket of thorn bushes! Unfortunately, that did...

The Kingdom is primarily the dynamic reign or kingly rule of God, and, derivatively, the sphere in which the rule is experienced. In biblical idiom, the Kingdom is not identified with its subjects. They are the people of God’s rule who enter it, live under it, and are governed by it. The church is the community of the Kingdom but never the Kingdom itself. Jesus ’ disciples belong to the Kingdom as the Kingdom belongs to them; but they are not the Kingdom. The Kingdom is the rule of God; the church is a society of men. Ladd summarizes five specific aspects of the relationship between the kingdom and the church:  (1) The church is not the kingdom (for Jesus and the early Christians preached that the kingdom of God was near, not that the church was near, and preached the good news of the kingdom, not the good news of the church: Acts 8:12; 19:8; 20:25; 28:23, 31).  (2) The kingdom creates the church (for as people enter into God’s kingdom they become joined to the hum...

John Calvin  (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) Matthew 18:15–17 “If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother” ( v. 15 ). James M. Boice’s comments on Matthew 18:13 remind sinners that “everything God has done is for your salvation, and no one in all the universe will be happier at your repentance than God” (The Gospel of Matthew: An Expositional Commentary, vol. 2, p. 388). If the Father rejoices to see errant sinners return, we must also desire transgressors to be restored, no matter their offenses. This principle undergirds today’s passage, the classic text on church discipline. Discipline necessarily means confrontation and is established in Christ ’s call for us to care for the spiritual growth of one another ( Matt. 18:10–14 ). We are required to intervene when Christian friends and family go astray, otherwise sin might destroy that person. In a real sense, we are our brother’s kee...

Deutsch: Fresco im Markuskloster in Florenz (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) When Jesus arrived on the scene, He reintroduced His Jewish audience to God as a loving, beneficent Father to those who know, love, and obey Him. In the Sermon on the Mount , He taught them that the Father takes care of the needs of His children: Ask, and it shall be given to you; seek, and you shall find; knock, and it shall be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it shall be opened. Or what man is there among you, when his son shall ask him for a loaf, will give him a stone? Or if he shall ask for a fish, he will not give him a snake, will he? If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more shall your Father who is in heaven give what is good to those who ask Him! ( Matt. 7:7–11) Jesus reaffirmed to them what their Scripture taught and what faithful, godly Jews had always believed: God is the Father in heaven to tho...

English: John the Baptist baptizing Christ (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) Matthew 11:16–19 “To what shall I compare this generation? It is like children sitting in the marketplaces and calling to their playmates” (v. 16). Jesus finishes His teaching on Elijah and John the Baptist with the enigmatic statement, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear” (Matt. 11:15). This saying presupposes the biblical view of human depravity, revealing that human beings need more than ears to hear — to receive, understand, and act upon — divine revelation. It is not as if those who oppose Christ ’s message cannot hear spoken syllables and sounds with their ears. Instead, the hurdle that prevents sinful humanity from receiving and embracing the Lord’s message is a moral one. Apart from God ’s sovereign grace, His enemies do not want to believe His promises or follow His agenda (Ex. 7:13; Matt. 23:37–39; Rom. 1:18–32). Christ makes this point forcefully in today...

Frans Floris - The Sacrifice of Jesus Christ, Son of God, Gathering and Protecting Mankind - WGA7949 (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) Many deceivers, who do not acknowledge Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh, have gone out into the world. Any such person is the deceiver and the antichrist . 2 JOHN 7 Jesus was a man who convinced those closest to him that he was also God ; his humanness is not therefore in doubt. John’s condemnation of those who denied that “Jesus Christ has come in the flesh” ( 1 John 4:2–3; 2 John 7) was aimed at Docetists , who replaced the Incarnation with the idea that Jesus was a supernatural visitant (not God) who seemed human but was really a kind of phantom, a teacher who did not really die for sins. The Gospels show Jesus experiencing human limitations (hunger, Matt. 4:2; weariness, John 4:6; ignorance of fact, Luke 8:45–47) and human pain (weeping at Lazarus’ grave, John 11:35 , 38; agonizing in Gethsemane , Mark 14:32–42; cf. Luke 12:50; Hebrews 5:7–...

English: Quba Mosque (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) Muhammad was born around 570 in Mecca in what is now the nation of Saudi Arabia . This was an area where there were significant populations of both Christians and Jews, so there was access to the Scriptures and the teachings of both the Old Testament and the New Testament.  Muslims claim that Muhammad was a direct descendent of Ishmael, and thus of Abraham, though the only evidence to support this comes through oral tradition. Muhammad’s father died before he was born and his mother sent him as an infant to live in the desert with Bedouins in order to become acquainted with Arab traditions. While in the desert he is said to have encountered two angels who opened his chest and cleansed his heart with snow, symbolic of Islam’s teaching that he was purified and protected from all sin. Muhammad returned to Mecca sometime soon after. His mother passed away when he was 6 and he came under the immediate care of his grandfat...

Deutsch: Fresco im Markuskloster in Florenz (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) Matthew 5:13–16 “Let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven” (v. 16). Jesus identifies Himself with Yahweh in the Sermon on the Mount when He compares His disciples to the persecuted prophets of old ( Matt. 5:11–12; Jer. 37–38). The disciples who speak for Jesus are like the prophets who spoke for the Lord of the covenant; therefore, Christ implies His divine sovereignty. The prophets carried out their ministries in full view of the people of Israel, and so we are not surprised to see that their successors, the disciples of Jesus, do not build the kingdom of God in secret. This is the point of this passage. Our Savior calls His disciples the “salt of the earth” (Matt. 5:13) and the “light of the world” (v. 14), two substances that permeate and transform the food, or the darkness, in which they are found....

Matthew 26:36 –46 “Going a little farther he fell on his face and prayed , saying, ‘My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will’” (v. 39). Following His prediction of His disciples’ falling away (Matt. 26:30–35),  Jesus comes with them to a “place called Gethsemane ” (v. 36). They enter a garden there (John 18:1), probably a grove of olive trees since gethsemane means “oil press.” Christ separates Himself from most of His disciples, going off to pray with the three men who are closest to him — Peter, James, and John (Matt. 26:37; see 10:2; 17:1). Our Lord is about to enter His most difficult trial and, like all people, desires the support of good friends in His ordeal. Jesus, of course, is the incarnate, second person of the Trinity . Still, He is also truly human and His humanness is shown through His prayer in Gethsemane. Knowing what is ahead, our Savior begins to experienc...

Jesus is considered by scholars such as Weber to be an example of a charismatic religious leader. (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) Matthew 23:16–22 “Whoever swears by the temple swears by it and by him who dwells in it. And whoever swears by heaven swears by the throne of God and by him who sits upon it” (vv. 21–22). Jesus declares seven woes upon the scribes and Pharisees in Matthew 23:13 –36, which is a significant number. Scripture often uses the number seven to denote completeness. For example, God rested on the seventh day when He had finished creating the heavens and the earth (Gen. 2:1–3). Considering the association of wholeness with the number seven, Christ ’s use of seven woes to denounce scribal and Pharisaic transgressions likely indicates the thoroughgoing wickedness of many people in these groups. This is the third woe Jesus uttered against the scribes and Pharisees (Matt. 23:16–22), the content of which He previously deliv...

English: John the Baptist baptizing Christ (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) One of the most common arguments for infant baptism is found in the climax of the apostle Peter’s sermon at Pentecost in Acts 2. Peter has just set forth the redemptive work of Jesus (vv. 22-35) and proclaimed that He is both Lord and Christ (v. 36), and his Jewish listeners are cut to the heart, asking, “What shall we do?” (v. 37). Peter responds in Acts  2:38 -39: Repent and let each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is for you and your children, and for all who are far off, as many as the Lord our God shall call to Himself (Acts  2:38 -39). The argument for infant baptism is found in Peter’s declaration that “the promise is for you and your children”—not just you, but you  and your children . According to paedobaptists, the promise that Peter refers to in Acts  2:38 -39 i...